Machine for breasting louis heels



R. E. PONDER ET AL 2,776,445

MACHINE FOR BREASTING LOUIS HEELS Jan. 8, 1957 Filed Jan. 1 8, 1956 s SheegS-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MOM/R BABUNOVIC y RAYMOND E. PONDER ATTORNEY Jan. 8, 1957 R. E. PONDER ET AL I ,7

MACHINE FOR BREASTING LOUIS HEELS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 18, 1956 INVENTOR. MOM/R BABl/NOV/C y RAYMOND E PONDER ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,776,445 MACHINE FOR BREASTING LOUIS HEELS Raymond E. Ponder, St. Louis, and Momir Babunovic,

Kirkwood, Mo., assignors to Quirk Machinery Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Application January 18, 1956, Serial No. 559,833 7 Claims. c1. 12-474) This invention pertains to a machine for breasting Louis type shoe heels for womens shoes.

An object of the invention is to provide improved mechanism for automatically cutting the breasting and lip portions of such a heel.

This invention may be briefly summarized, with reference to the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as follows:

The mechanism comprises a turret mounted for rotation on a suitably driven shaft. A heel-blank clamp is pivoted on the turret at a point spaced from the axis of rotation of the latter. A stationary rotary cutter is positioned to operate on a heel blank held in said clamp as the clamp is carried past the cutter by rotation of the turret. A cam engageable by a follower on an arm on said clamp, operates to rock the clamp on its pivot as it moves past the cutter, whereby the breast is cut giving the lip a desired curvature. The cam has a varying contour and is adjustable relatively to the follower, whereby the curvature of the lip may be varied.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 to 7, inclusive are diagrammatic views showing the heel clamp in different positions with respect to the different cams which control its movement;

Fig. 8 is a face view of the turret which carries the heel clamp with parts in section;

Fig. 9 is a bottom view of Fig. 8 with parts broken away; i

Fig. 10 is a side view of the turret and one heel clamp with parts in section; and

Fig. 11 is an end view of the heel clamp taken about on line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

The mechanism for handling the heel blank during the breasting operation includes a turret 10 carried by a shaft 11 by which it is driven in rotation in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 8. The turret 10 has a central barrel 12 extending outward therefrom, Fig. 10.

Mounted on or formed integral with the barrel 12 are bearing housings 13. In the embodiment illustrated, three such housings are provided, though other numbers may be used. Mounted in each housing 13 is a spindle 14 which is arranged to rotate in roller bearings 14a and 14b.

The outer end of the spindle 14 has secured thereto so as to rotate therewith a clamp bracket indicated generally at 15. This bracket has an arm 16 provided with a heel seat 17 adapted to'receive the base of the heel blank. The clamp bracket has a second arm 18 on which is slidably mounted a slide 19. As shown in Fig. 11, the arm 18 is provided with guide strips 20 received in ways on the inner surface of the side arms 21 of the slide 19. A cross-bar 22 secured to the end of the arm 18 is arranged to mount an adjusting screw 23 whose inner end is journaled at 24 in a socket at the base of the channel 25 formed in the arm 18. The outer end of the screw 23 is journaled in the cross-bar 22 as shown in Fig. 10. A block 26 is threaded on the adjusting screw 23 as shown in Fig. 10 and is provided with a notch adapted to receive a cross-bar 27 secured in the arms 21 of the slide 19. By manipulation of the screw 23, the block 26 may be moved in or out and carries with it the slide 19.

A clamping hand wheel 27a is threaded on the crossbar 27 to apply locking presure on the side arms 21 forcing them into tight locking contact with the outside surface of the arm 18, after the manipulation of the screw 23.

Journaled in the slide 19 is a shaft 30 having fixed to one end thereof a lever 31. This lever has secured in the end thereof a bar 32. Attached to the bar 32 is a spring 33 which biases the lever 31 for rotation in counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 10.

Secured in the shaft 30 so as to extend outward therefrom is a short lever 34, the end of which is engaged in an opening 35 in a slide 36, guided for sliding movement in ways 37 and carrying at its end a shoe 38 adapted to engage the heel blank, as shown in Fig. 10.

The spring 33 normally tends to rotate the shaft 30 so as to cause the arm 34 to move the slide 36 outward so as to release the heel blank. A pressure cylinder 40 has a plunger 41 arranged to engage the bar 32 so that when pressure is supplied to said cylinder, the plunger 41 will force the bar 32 outward, thereby rotating the shaft 30 so as to cause the arm 34 to force the slide 36 inward against the heel blank 42. Thus, the blank may be clamped by applying pressure to the cylinder 40 and when that pressure is removed, the blank will be released. Suitable means may be provided for carrying out these operations automatically. Thus the blank is clamped in such position that the axis of its pivot spindle 14 extends in transverse relation thereto, that is, fore-and-aft as distinguished from longitudinally.

The inner end of the spindle 14 has secured thereto a lever 45. This lever is provided with a lateral projection 46 in which is secured a shaft 47 on which a roller 48 is mounted. This roller is arranged to engage the outer face of a cam 49. The cam 49 is mounted on a slidable ring 50 having an internal thread 51. The ring 50 is slidable on one or more keys 52 on the stationary turret housing 10a so as to prevent its rotation with respect to the turret housing 10a. An adjusting collar 53 is threaded to match the thread 51 and is rotatable with respect to the turret housing 10a but fixed against axial movement by engagement with the end of the key 52. This adjusting ring has an operating flange 54, Figs. 8 and 9, which may be provided with teeth 55 engageable by a pinion 56 arranged in any suitable manner, not shown, for manipulation so as to adjust the collar 53. Rotation of this collar, therefore, operates to move the cam 49 axially with respect to the shaft 11.

The cam 49 has an outer surface which is warped, its contour at the middle being circular but changing its shape at planes displaced from the middle so as to deviate from circular shape increasingly with displacement from said middle portion.

A rotary cutter 60 is mounted adjacent the turret in such position that as the turret rotates the heel blank in the clamp, the heel blank will be moved against said cutter so as to have its breast portion formed thereby. As may be seen from Figs. 2 to 7, inclusive, the shape of the lip 61 formed on the blank 42 will depend upon which portion of the cam 49 the roller 48 follows. Fig. 2 illustrates the case where said roller rests on the middle portion of the cam, which is circular. With this adjustment, the lip 61 will be cut to a curvature such as shown in Fig. 2, which will be the medial curvature for the lip. As the cam 49 is moved outward, that is to the left, Fig. 10, the shape of the cam at the portion engaged by the follower 48 will be such as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. In Fig. 3, the cutter which is represented at 6611 by a cross section of a narrow slice at the very tip of the cutter, which is the portion which cuts the lip, is shown in a position in which it is about to start its out with thebody of the cutter represented by broken lines. Fig. 4 illustrates the parts at the time of the middle of the cut of all curvatures of the lips, and Fig. 5 represents the point at which the cutter is leaving the blank, the lip at having been cut to a curvature of very short radius.

Fig. 1 shows the starting position at which the heel blank is fed to the holder and clamped. After the operation is finished and just before the holder arrives back at the position of Fig. l, the clamp is released and the blank ejected. 7

Figs. 6 and 7 represent respectively conditions ccrresponding to Figs. 3 and 5, except that the cam has been moved inward, that is, to the right, Fig. 10. This portion of the cam is shaped so as to form the lip 61 to a curvature of large radius, such as shown in Fig. 7.

The curvature of the lip is therefore obtained by giving the heel blank a rocking pivotal movement on the turret while the turret moves the same in a circular path on a fixed center with reference to the cutter. The adjustment of the cam changes the extent of the rocking movement to change the curvature of the lip.

Various changes may be made in the details of con struction, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention. Farts of the invention may be used without the Whole and improvements may be added while retaining some or all of the advantages of the invention.

We claim:

1. in a machine for breasting Louis heels, a stationary rotary cutter, a turret adjacent said cutter driven in uniform rotation, a heel clamp pivotaliy mounted on said turret on an axis transverse tothe heel blank, means for operating said clamp to grip a heel blank, and meansv for rotating said clamp on said axis relatively to said turret and in timed relation to the rotation of the turret, whereby to cause said cutter to cut an arcuate lip of predetermined curvature on the blank.

2. In a machine for breasting Louis heels, a stationary rotary cutter, a turret adjacent said cutter driven in uniform rotation, a heel clamp pivotally mounted on said turret on an axis transverse to the heel blank, means for operating said clamp to grip a heel blank, a cam adjustably mounted in concentric relation with said turret, and a follower on said clamp engaging said cam and operating to rock the clamp on its pivot in timed relation to the rotation of said turret, whereby to cause said cutter to cut an arcuate lip of predetermined curvature on the blank.

3. In a machine for breasting Louis heels, a stationary rotary cutter, a turret adjacent said cutter driven in uniform rotation, a heel clamp pivotally mounted on said turret on an axis transverse to the heel blank, means for operating said clamp to grip a heel blank, a cam mounted in concentric relation with said turret, said cam having a warped peripheral surface such that its peripheral shape varies progressively with movement axially along said surface, a follower on said clamp engaging said cam and operating to rock said clamp on its pivot, and means for adjusting said cam axially with respect to said follower.

4. A heel-breasting device in accordance with claim 3 in which the shape of said cam at its middle is circular.

5. The method of breasting Louis heels, comprising,

moving a heel blank against a rotary cutter with a rocking pivotal movement while the pivot point of such movement on an axis transverse to the heel blank moves in a circular path on a center which is fixed with reference to said cutter, the axes of said pivotal movement and said circular path being substantially parallel to each other.

6. In a machine for breasting Louis heels, a shaft, a turret rotatable on said shaft, a heel-blank holder pivoted on an axis transverse to the heel blank on said turret to move therewith about said shaft, a rotary cutter mounted in fixed relation to said shaft and so as to operate on a heel blank in said holder, and means operating to rock said holder on its pivot in timed relation to the rotation of said turret on said shaft.

7. In a machine for breasting Louis heels, a shaft, a turret rotatable on said shaft, a heel-blank holder pivoted on said turret to move therewith about said shaft, a rotary cutter mounted in fixed relation to said shaft and so as to operate on a heel blank in said holder, means operating to rock said holder on its pivot in timed relation to the rotation of said turret on said shaft, and means for varying the rate of rocking movement of said holder with respect to the rate of rotation of said turret on said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,045,390 Howe June 23, 1936 

